The Trader Joe’s Theorem

I never met a check out guy at Trader Joe’s I didn’t like.

What’s more, I never met a check out guy at Trader Joe’s that didn’t like me.

The food service industry and I are interlinked. You know how people get nervous sometimes that the waiter spit in their food? I’ve never had that issue. I can get a waiter on my side faster than you can say tiramisu. The guy making your sandwich? I’ve probably made him laugh once or twice. And I’ve traded smiles and quips with all the Joe’s ringing up my hummus and tortilla chips.

Just last night, I went to Trader Joe’s and when I approached the check out guy, he was looking glum. He barely raised his “Register 8” paddle so I knew where to walk. I told him he could be a little more excited to see me, and suddenly he started to perk up. He told me he ate from a food truck named something like “Go Gorilla Food” and was now regretting his decision based on some grumblings in his stomach. I told him I question his life decision to eat from anywhere that has “gorilla” in the title. He instantly agreed with me. By the end of our conversation he was a changed man. It’s amazing what a food truck that possibly uses gorilla meat can do to bring people together.

The kicker was when I said I was sorry that he didn’t feel well. His answer? “Well you have definitely taken away most of the pain with this conversation.”

That’s just a great statement. There’s no weak part of that sentence. Now what do I do with that? Why do I have such success with men that handle food for a living and not men that don’t?

That may have been a double negative, but you catch my drift. Was that man an opportunity? Should I have given him my number? Or is there something that I should be learning in those conversations to take with me when I meet someone in a bar or in a different social situation?

You know what? For once I’m going to answer my own question. I think it’s the latter. I think for some reason I feel comfortable with Trader Joe and not the Regular Joe I meet in a bar or otherwise. I don’t know why, but the why isn’t really important. The important thing is figuring out how to translate that comfort to other situations.

Or maybe it isn’t. Maybe the important thing is to start slipping those check out guys my number. Hey, I did it once before to a waiter ... and that didn’t end well.

But more on that later.